HELENA — People across Big Sky County got up early on Saturday to get their Montana Millionaire tickets. Although not a record breaker like past years, all 620,000 were sold out in just over six hours.
For 2025, the Montana Lottery added 120,000 more tickets and a fifth million-dollar prize for Montana Millionaire.
This year also featured more instant-win prizes, and includes a “Quarter Million Monday” drawing for $250,000 on December 1.
Tickets cost $20 each, and they went on sale on Saturday, November 1st, at 5:30 a.m.
MTN spoke with people who were in line as early as 4:30 a.m. to get their tickets and received numerous reports of some people buying more than $10,000 in tickets at several locations. However, most people MTN spoke with bought on average one to five tickets.
The grand prize drawing for the five $1M tickets will happen on December 26, 2025.
Last year’s Montana Millionaire tickets — 500,000 in total — sold out in less than three hours.
MONTANA MILLIONAIRE FAQ
The Montana Lottery has provided responses to several frequently-asked questions:
- Why don’t you limit Montana Millionaire to Montana residents only? The Montana Lottery is available to everyone of legal age, whether resident or visitor. Limiting the sale of a product to some people while excluding others is discrimination. It would also be contrary to our mission and place an undue burden on our retailers.
- Why don’t you limit the number of Montana Millionaire tickets someone can buy? The mission of the Montana Lottery is to maximize revenue for the State of Montana. Our proceeds fund Montana’s STEM/Healthcare Scholarship Program and contribute to the General Fund. To limit sales of our products would be contrary to our mission and result in less positive impact for the residents of Montana.
- Why don’t you offer Montana Millionaire or another raffle game more than once per year? The Montana Lottery has a large selection of games available every day of the year. We believe Montana Millionaire is special and successful because it’s exclusive. While it is not impossible that we may introduce other raffle games in the future, currently we have made this strategic business decision based on detailed market research and analysis.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Money generated from the lottery is used in several ways.
“The lottery exists to generate revenue for the State of Montana. Most sales go towards paying prizes, operations, and essentially whatever is left at the end of that is what goes back to the state. That’s determined by state legislative action and the beneficiary, as we call it, has changed a number of times,” Montana Lottery content manager Dan Iverson told MTN News several months ago.
Currently, the first $2.25 million goes to the Montana Stem/Healthcare Scholarship Program, operated by the Office Of The Commissioner Of Higher Education and the Montana University System. Whatever is left goes to the state's general fund, which is dictated by the legislature.
2024 WINNING TICKETS
In 2024, Montana Millionaire featured 500,000 tickets; all of the tickets sold out within three hours.
The four grand prize winning tickets were drawn on Thursday, December 26, 2024. The winning tickets and where they were sold:
- 021333 – Cranny’s Club Tavern & Casino in Dillon
- 077800 – Super 1 Foods in Great Falls
- 143115 – Grand Slam Casino in Great Falls
- 416013 – Beartooth Harley Davidson in Billings
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Since the Montana Millionaire began, the following towns have sold winning tickets: seven in Great Falls; seven in Billings; three in Butte; two in Columbia Falls; two in Dillon; and one each in Winnett, East Helena, Kalispell, and Laurel.
Previous winners of the Montana Millionaire grand prize include:
- 2020: Megan Thorstenson, Butte
- 2019: Casey Petero, Columbia Falls
- 2018: Richard Mai, Billings
- 2017: Amy Lambert, Butte
- 2016: Daniel Thompson, Great Falls
- 2015: Jack Barisich, Winnett
- 2014: Jeffrey Fallang, East Helena
- 2013: Russell Miller, Columbia Falls
- 2012: Sam Polesky, Laurel
- 2011: Vern & Mara Wallace, Billings
- 2010: William Morse, Billings
- 2009: Dana Delguerra, Great Falls
- 2008: Mike & Carole McGivern, Butte
- 2007: Gary & BJ Klipstein, Billings
Due to a change in legislation in 2021, the Montana Lottery is no longer allowed to release names of Montana Millionaire winners unless the person gives consent.
In 2022, no one claimed one of the two Montana Millionaire prizes, so the money went into the State General Fund.
